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Multimineral nutritional supplements in a nano-CaO matrix

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Abstract

The fast dissolution of certain calcium-containing compounds makes them attractive carriers for trace minerals in nutritional applications, e.g., iron and zinc to alleviate mineral deficiencies in affected people. Here, CaO-based nanostructured mixed oxides containing nutritionally relevant amounts of Fe, Zn, Cu, and Mn were produced by one-step flame spray pyrolysis. The compounds were characterized by nitrogen adsorption, x-ray diffraction, (scanning) transmission electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Dissolution in dilute acid (i.d.a.) was measured as an indicator of their in vivo bioavailability. High contents of calcium resulted in matrix encapsulation of iron and zinc preventing formation of poorly soluble oxides. For 3.6 ≤ Ca:Fe ≤ 10.8, Ca2Fe2O5 coexisted with CaO. For Ca/Zn compounds, no mixed oxides were obtained, indicating that the Ca/Zn composition can be tuned without affecting their solubility i.d.a. Aging under ambient conditions up to 225 days transformed CaO to CaCO3 without affecting iron solubility i.d.a. Furthermore, Cu and Mn could be readily incorporated in the nanostructured CaO matrix. All such compounds dissolved rapidly and completely i.d.a., suggesting good in vivo bioavailability.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by ETH Research Grant ETH-06 10-1. (S)TEM investigations were carried out at the Electron Microscopy ETH Zurich.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Particle Technology Laboratory, Institute of Process Engineering, CH-8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Jesper T.N. Knijnenburg & Florentine M. Hilty

  2. Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Human Nutrition Laboratory, Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, CH-8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Florentine M. Hilty

  3. Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry, CH-8093, Zurich, Switzerland

    Frank Krumeich

  4. Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Human Nutrition Laboratory, CH-8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Michael B. Zimmermann

  5. Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Particle Technology Laboratory, Institute of Process Engineering, CH-8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Sotiris E. Pratsinis

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  1. Jesper T.N. Knijnenburg
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Correspondence to Sotiris E. Pratsinis.

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Knijnenburg, J.T., Hilty, F.M., Krumeich, F. et al. Multimineral nutritional supplements in a nano-CaO matrix. Journal of Materials Research 28, 1129–1138 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2013.63

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2013.63

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